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Extensive research highlights global and within-country inequality in personal carbon footprints. However, the extent to which people are aware of these inequalities remains unclear. Here we use an online survey distributed across four diverse countries: Denmark, India, Nigeria and the USA, to show widespread underestimation of carbon footprint inequality, irrespective of participants’ country and income segment. Of the 4,003 participants, within each country, 50% of participants were sampled from the top 10% income group. Our results show links between carbon footprint inequality perceptions and climate policy support, but with significant variations observed across the four countries and with participants’ income segments. Furthermore, there are links to the perceived fairness of actual carbon footprint inequality, highlighting the need to raise awareness about carbon footprint inequality and further unpack its implications for climate justice and policy.

Behavioural science has yielded insights about the actions of individuals, particularly as consumers, that affect climate change. Behaviours in other spheres of life remain understudied. In this Perspective, we propose a collaborative research agenda that integrates behavioural science insights across multiple disciplines. To this end, we offer six recommendations for optimizing the quality and impact of research on individual climate behaviour. The recommendations are united by a shift towards more solutions-focused research that is directly useful to citizens, policymakers and other change agents. Achieving this vision will require overcoming challenges such as the limited funding for behavioural and social sciences and structural barriers within and beyond the academic system that impede collaborations across disciplines.

How everyday self-control conflicts are resolved can have significant long-term personal and societal consequences, as readily illustrated by obesity, smoking, and unsustainable consumption. Here, we delineate connections between current self-control research and policymaking. We first discuss the achievements and shortcomings of the prevailing individual-level focus in self-control research. Next, we propose a multilevel perspective that incorporates structural factors operating at the micro, meso, and macro levels as the root cause of many issues framed as self-control problems. We then introduce a comprehensive framework (4LP) synthesizing four key levers for public policymaking. We conclude that future policy research may benefit from closer, interdisciplinary collaboration to better represent the complex interplay between individual agency and structural factors regarding self-control outcomes.

Carbon labelling systems can inform individual and organizational choices, which potentially reduce the carbon footprints of goods and services. We review the ways labelling is conceptualized and operationalized, and the available evidence on effectiveness. The literature focuses mainly on how labelling affects retail consumer behaviour, but much less on how labelling affects the behaviour of the organizations that produce, transport and sell products despite preliminary research suggesting that the effects on corporate behaviour may be substantial even without strong consumer responses. We consider key challenges for carbon labelling systems related to standard setting, data collection and use, and label design. We summarize the available knowledge, identify key research questions and identify steps towards achieving the promise of carbon labelling.

Advancing our understanding of non-equilibrium phenomena in quantum many-body systems remains one of the greatest challenges in physics. Here we report on the experimental observation of a paradigmatic many-body problem, namely the non-equilibrium dynamics of a quantum impurity immersed in a bosonic environment1,2. We use an interferometric technique to prepare coherent superposition states of atoms in a Bose–Einstein condensate with a small impurity-state component, and monitor the evolution of such quantum superpositions into polaronic quasiparticles. These results offer a systematic picture of polaron formation3–7from weak to strong impurity interactions. They reveal three distinct regimes of evolution with dynamical transitions that provide a link between few-body processes and many-body dynamics. Our measurements reveal universal dynamical behaviour in interacting many-body systems and demonstrate new pathways to study non-equilibrium quantum phenomena.

Efforts to achieve emissions targets often fall short. Science can help meet the targets by assessing the feasibility of initiatives proposed to reach them, focusing on issues of adoption and implementation and the behavioural plasticity of intended responders.

Limiting global warming to 2°C or less compared with pre-industrial temperatures will require unprecedented rates of decarbonization globally. The scale and scope of transformational change required across sectors and actors in society raises critical questions of feasibility. Much of the literature on mitigation pathways addresses technological and economic aspects of feasibility, but overlooks the behavioral, cultural, and social factors that affect theoretical and practical mitigation pathways. We present a tripartite framework that “unpacks” the concept of mitigation pathways by distinguishing three factors that together determine actual mitigation: technical potential, initiative feasibility, and behavioral plasticity. The framework aims to integrate and streamline heterogeneous disciplinary research traditions toward a more comprehensive and transparent approach that will facilitate learning across disciplines and enable mitigation pathways to more fully reflect available knowledge. We offer three suggestions for integrating the tripartite framework into current research on climate change mitigation.

Kristian S. Nielsen is a research associate in the Department of Zoology at University of Cambridge. He received a PhD from Copenhagen Business School in 2019 with a dissertation focused on the role of self-regulation in environmental behavior change. His current research focuses on bridging research in behavioral science and biodiversity conservation as part of an interdisciplinary project called Nudging for Nature. His other research interests revolve around behavior change as a climate change mitigation strategy, the dynamics of the behavior change process, self-regulation and self-control, and sustainable clothing consumption.

Modern societies produce vast amounts of digital data and merely keeping up with transmission and storage is difficult enough, but analyzing it to extract and apply useful information is harder still. Almost all research within healthcare data processing is concerned with formal clinical data. However, there is a lot of valuable but idle information in non-clinical data too; this information needs to be retrieved and activated. The present study combines state-of-the-art methods within distributed computing, text retrieval, clustering, and classification into a coherent and computationally efficient system that is able to clarify cancer patient trajectories based on non-clinical and freely available online forum posts. The motivation is: well informed patients, caretakers, and relatives often lead to better overall treatment outcomes due to enhanced possibilities of proper disease management. The resulting software prototype is fully functional and build to serve as a test bench for various text information retrieval and visualization methods. Via the prototype, we demonstrate a computationally efficient clustering of posts into cancer-types and a subsequent within-cluster classification into trajectory related classes. Also, the system provides an interactive graphical user interface allowing end-users to mine and oversee the valuable information.

In the present study, we investigated the influence of the presence of others and goal support on the performance of goal-directed behavior across different levels of self-control. Our analysis included survey data from 3,972 respondents across four countries. The results of the analysis revealed four important findings. First, high goal support increased the performance of goal-directed behavior when in the presence of others during decision-making. Second, self-control had a positive effect on goal-directed behavior only when individuals were by themselves. Third, while the effect of goal support significantly increased goal-directed behavior independent of self-control ability, people with low self-control reaped the most benefits from having goal support. Finally, we observed that although people with low self-control gained the most benefits from goal support, they were also less likely to be positioned in goal-supportive environments.

Across the OECD countries, there is a growing consensus in favour of targeting active labour market policies (ALMP) on the disadvantaged unemployed and persons outside the labour force to increase their employment prospects. Despite increased efforts, little is known about what works for getting persons with physical, mental, and social problems into employment. Using difference-in-differences regressions and propensity score matching on longitudinal population register data from Denmark, we investigate the effects of investment in public employment services for disadvantaged social assistance recipients, where social worker caseloads have been severely reduced and active employment measures for the target group have intensified. We find significant and robust positive effects of intervention on subsequent employment outcomes for disadvantaged, hard-to-employ social assistance recipients, suggesting the need for an increased focus on this target group in future research and in the design and implementation of ALMPs.

Aspergillussection Nigricomprises filamentous fungi relevant to biomedicine, bioenergy, health, and biotechnology. To learn more about what genetically sets these species apart, as well as about potential applications in biotechnology and biomedicine, we sequenced 23 genomes de novo, forming a full genome compendium for the section (26 species), as well as 6 Aspergillus nigerisolates. This allowed us to quantify both inter- and intraspecies genomic variation. We further predicted 17,903 carbohydrate-active enzymes and 2,717 secondary metabolite gene clusters, which we condensed into 455 distinct families corresponding to compound classes, 49% of which are only found in single species. We performed metabolomics and genetic engineering to correlate genotypes to phenotypes, as demonstrated for the metabolite aurasperone, and by heterologous transfer of citrate production to Aspergillus nidulans. Experimental and computational analyses showed that both secondary metabolism and regulation are key factors that are significant in the delineation of Aspergillusspecies.

Cyclopiamines C (1) and D (2) were isolated from the extract of Penicilliumsp. CML 3020, a fungus sourced from an Atlantic Forest soil sample. Their structures and relative configuration were determined by 1D and 2D NMR, HRMS, and UV/vis data analysis. Cyclopiamines C and D belong to a small subset of rare spiroindolinone compounds containing an alkyl nitro group and a 4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinoline-2,6-dione ring system. NMR and MS/HRMS data confirmed the presence of an epoxide unit (C-17–O–C-18) and a hydroxy group at C-5, not observed for their known congeners. Cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities were evaluated.

An endlessly single-mode doped microstructured poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) optical fiber is produced for effective fiber Bragg grating (FBG) photo-inscription by means of a 400 nm femtosecond pulsed laser and the phase mask technique. The fiber presents a uniform benzyl dimethyl ketal (BDK) distribution in its core without drastic loss increase. It was produced using the selected center hole doping technique, and the BDK dopant acts as a photoinitiator. In this Letter, we report a rapidly growing process of the grating reflection band. For an 11 mW mean laser power, the FBG reflectivity reaches 83% in only 40 s.

Marine algae from the genus Karlodiniumare known to be involved in fish-killing events worldwide. Here we report for the first time the chemistry and bioactivity of a natural product from the newly described mixotrophic dinoflagellate Karlodinium armiger. Our work describes the isolation and structural characterization of a new polyhydroxy-polyene named karmitoxin. The structure elucidation work was facilitated by use of 13C enrichment and high-field 2D NMR spectroscopy, where 1H–13C long-range correlations turned out to be very informative. Karmitoxin is structurally related to amphidinols and karlotoxins; however it differs by containing the longest carbon–carbon backbone discovered for this class of compounds, as well as a primary amino group. Karmitoxin showed potent nanomolar cytotoxic activity in an RTgill-W1 cell assay as well as rapid immobilization and eventual mortality of the copepod Acartia tonsa, a natural grazer of K. armiger.

In this Letter, we report for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, the fabrication and characterization of a Zeonex/PMMA microstructured polymer optical fiber (mPOF) Bragg grating sensor for simultaneous monitoring of relative humidity (RH) and temperature. The sensing element (probe) is based on two separate in-line fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) inscribed in the fabricated mPOF. A root mean square deviation of 0.8% RH and 0.6°C in the range of 10%–90% RH and 20°C–80°C was found. The developed mPOFBG sensor constitutes an efficient route toward low-cost, easy-to-fabricate and compact multi-parameter sensing solutions.

Tropodithietic acid (TDA)-producing Ruegeria mobilisstrains of the Roseobacterclade have primarily been isolated from marine aquaculture and have probiotic potential due to inhibition of fish pathogens. We hypothesized that TDA producers with additional novel features are present in the oceanic environment. We isolated 42 TDA-producing R. mobilisstrains during a global marine research cruise. While highly similar on the 16S ribosomal RNA gene level (99–100% identity), the strains separated into four sub-clusters in a multilocus sequence analysis. They were further differentiated to the strain level by average nucleotide identity using pairwise genome comparison. The four sub-clusters could not be associated with a specific environmental niche, however, correlated with the pattern of sub-typing using co-isolated phages, the number of prophages in the genomes and the distribution in ocean provinces. Major genomic differences within the sub-clusters include prophages and toxin-antitoxin systems. In general, the genome of R. mobilisrevealed adaptation to a particle-associated life style and querying TARA ocean data confirmed that R. mobilisis more abundant in the particle-associated fraction than in the free-living fraction occurring in 40% and 6% of the samples, respectively. Our data and the TARA data, although lacking sufficient data from the polar regions, demonstrate that R. mobilisis a globally distributed marine bacterial species found primarily in the upper open oceans. It has preserved key phenotypic behaviors such as the production of TDA, but contains diverse sub-clusters, which could provide new capabilities for utilization in aquaculture.

Tropodithietic acid (TDA)-producing Ruegeria mobilis strains of the Roseobacter clade have primarily been isolated from marine aquaculture and have probiotic potential due to inhibition of fish pathogens. We hypothesized that TDA producers with additional novel features are present in the oceanic environment. We isolated 42 TDA-producing R. mobilis strains during a global marine research cruise. While highly similar on the 16S ribosomal RNA gene level (99–100% identity), the strains separated into four sub-clusters in a multilocus sequence analysis. They were further differentiated to the strain level by average nucleotide identity using pairwise genome comparison. The four sub-clusters could not be associated with a specific environmental niche, however, correlated with the pattern of sub-typing using co-isolated phages, the number of prophages in the genomes and the distribution in ocean provinces. Major genomic differences within the sub-clusters include prophages and toxin-antitoxin systems. In general, the genome of R. mobilis revealed adaptation to a particle-associated life style and querying TARA ocean data confirmed that R. mobilis is more abundant in the particle-associated fraction than in the free-living fraction occurring in 40% and 6% of the samples, respectively. Our data and the TARA data, although lacking sufficient data from the polar regions, demonstrate that R. mobilis is a globally distributed marine bacterial species found primarily in the upper open oceans. It has preserved key phenotypic behaviors such as the production of TDA, but contains diverse sub-clusters, which could provide new capabilities for utilization in aquaculture.

Blooms of the microalga Prymnesium parvumcause devastating fish kills worldwide, which are suspected to be caused by the supersized ladder-frame polyether toxins prymnesin-1 and -2. These toxins have, however, only been detected from P. parvumin rare cases since they were originally described two decades ago. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of a novel B-type prymnesin, based on extensive analysis of 2D- and 3D-NMR data of natural as well as 90% 13C enriched material. B-type prymnesins lack a complete 1,6-dioxadecalin core unit, which is replaced by a short acyclic C2linkage compared to the structure of the original prymnesins. Comparison of the bioactivity of prymnesin-2 with prymnesin-B1 in an RTgill-W1 cell line assay identified both compounds as toxic in the low nanomolar range. Chemical investigations by liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) of 10 strains of P. parvumcollected worldwide showed that only one strain produced the original prymnesin-1 and -2, whereas four strains produced the novel B-type prymnesin. In total 13 further prymnesin analogues differing in their core backbone and chlorination and glycosylation patterns could be tentatively detected by LC-MS/HRMS, including a likely C-type prymnesin in five strains. Altogether, our work indicates that evolution of prymnesins has yielded a diverse family of fish-killing toxins that occurs around the globe and has significant ecological and economic impact.

Microalgae, particularly those from the lineage Dinoflagellata, are very well-known for their ability to produce phycotoxins that may accumulate in the marine food chain and eventually cause poisoning in humans. This includes toxins accumulating in shellfish, such as saxitoxin, okadaic acid, yessotoxins, azaspiracids, brevetoxins, and pinnatoxins. Other toxins, such as ciguatoxins and maitotoxins, accumulate in fish, where, as is the case for the latter compounds, they can be metabolized to even more toxic metabolites. On the other hand, much less is known about the chemical nature of compounds that are toxic to fish, the so-called ichthyotoxins. Despite numerous reports of algal blooms causing massive fish kills worldwide, only a few types of compounds, such as the karlotoxins, have been proven to be true ichthyotoxins. This review will highlight marine microalgae as the source of some of the most complex natural compounds known to mankind, with chemical structures that show no resemblance to what has been characterized from plants, fungi, or bacteria. In addition, it will summarize algal species known to be related to fish-killing blooms, but from which ichthyotoxins are yet to be characterized.

We demonstrate that the light excitation and capturing efficiency of fluorescence based fiber-optical sensors can be significantly increased by using a CPC (Compound Parabolic Concentrator) tip instead of the standard plane-cut tip. We use Zemax modelling to find the optimum CPC tip profile and fiber length of a polymer optical fiber diabetes sensor for continuous monitoring of glucose levels. We experimentally verify the improved performance of the CPC tipped sensor and the predicted production tolerances. Due to physical size requirements when the sensor has to be inserted into the body a non-optimal fiber length of 35 mm is chosen. For this length an average improvement in efficiency of a factor of 1.7 is experimentally demonstrated and critically compared to the predicted ideal factor of 3 in terms of parameters that should be improved through production optimization.

Continuous sciatic nerve block is used for pain management following major ankle surgery. Pain from the saphenous nerve territory often persists. We conducted a double-blinded randomized placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the effect of a supplementary saphenous catheter in the proximal thigh combined with a popliteal sciatic catheter and single-shot saphenous nerve block after major ankle surgery. Fifty patients received both sciatic and saphenous continuous catheters inserted along the short axis of the nerves with ultrasound-guidance. All patients had an initial sciatic nerve block followed by a continuous sciatic catheter infusion and an initial saphenous nerve block with ropivacaine. Participants were then randomized to infusion of either ropivacaine or isotonic saline in the saphenous catheter for 48 hr postoperatively. The primary outcome was total intravenous morphine consumption during the first 48 hr postoperatively. Secondary outcomes were clinical analgesia, saphenous analgesia, territory of worst pain, and patient satisfaction. Forty-four patients were included in the analysis. The mean (SD) 48-hr morphine consumption was 24.7 (21.6) mg in the intervention group and 27.8 (20.1) mg in the placebo group (P= 0.63). The mean difference in 48-hr morphine consumption was 3.0 mg (95% confidence interval, −9.7 to 15.7). There were no differences regarding the secondary outcomes. A saphenous catheter with a low-dose continuous infusion of ropivacaine, as an adjunct to a sciatic catheter, had no effect on the postoperative analgesia after major ankle surgery when both catheters were inserted along the short axis of the nerves. This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01445210). Après une chirurgie majeure de la cheville, le bloc continu du nerf sciatique est utilisé pour soulager la douleur, mais bien souvent, des douleurs issues du territoire du nerf saphène persistent. Nous avons réalisé une étude randomisée à double insu et contrôlée par placebo afin d’évaluer l’effet d’un cathéter saphène supplémentaire dans la cuisse proximale combiné à un cathéter sciatique poplité et à un bloc du nerf saphène en injection unique après une chirurgie majeure de la cheville. Deux cathéters continus ont été installés sous échoguidage aux nerfs sciatique et saphène le long des axes nerveux courts chez cinquante patients. Tous les patients ont reçu un bloc initial du nerf sciatique suivi d’une perfusion continue via le cathéter sciatique et un bloc initial du nerf saphène avec de la ropivacaïne. On a ensuite réparti les participants en deux groupes, l’un recevant une perfusion de ropivacaïne et l’autre une solution saline isotonique dans le cathéter saphène pendant 48 h après l’opération. Le critère d’évaluation principal était la consommation totale de morphine intraveineuse au cours des 48 h suivant l’opération. Les critères d’évaluation secondaires étaient l’analgésie clinique, l’analgésie saphène, le territoire de la douleur la plus forte, et la satisfaction du patient. Quarante-quatre patients ont été inclus dans notre analyse. La consommation moyenne (ÉT) de morphine en 48 h était de 24,7 (21,6) mg dans le groupe intervention et de 27,8 (20,1) mg dans le groupe placebo (P = 0,63). La différence moyenne en matière de consommation de morphine sur 48 h était de 3,0 mg (intervalle de confiance 95 %, −9,7 à 15,7). Aucune différence n’a été observée au niveau des critères d’évaluation secondaires. Un cathéter saphène avec une perfusion continue de ropivacaïne à faible dose, en tant qu’ajout à un cathéter sciatique, n’a pas eu d’effet sur l’analgésie postopératoire après une chirurgie majeure de la cheville lorsque les deux cathéters étaient placés le long de l’axe court des nerfs. Cette étude est enregistrée au ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01445210).

We present the results from stable isotope labeled precursor feeding studies combined with ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry for the identification of labeled polyketide (PK) end-products. Feeding experiments were performed with 13C8-6-methylsalicylic acid (6-MSA) and 13C14-YWA1, both produced in-house, as well as commercial 13C7-benzoic acid and 2H7-cinnamic acid, in species of Fusarium, Byssochlamys, Aspergillus, and Penicillium. Incorporation of 6-MSA into terreic acid or patulin was not observed in any of six evaluated species covering three genera, because the 6-MSA was shunted into (2Z,4E)-2-methyl-2,4-hexadienedioic acid. This indicates that patulin and terreic acid may be produced in a closed compartment of the cell and that (2Z,4E)-2-methyl-2,4-hexadienedioic acid is a detoxification product toward terreic acid and patulin. In Fusariumspp., YWA1 was shown to be incorporated into aurofusarin, rubrofusarin, and antibiotic Y. In A. niger, benzoic acid was shown to be incorporated into asperrubrol. Incorporation levels of 0.7–20% into the end-products were detected in wild-type strains. Thus, stable isotope labeling is a promising technique for investigation of polyketide biosynthesis and possible compartmentalization of toxic metabolites.

Surfactin-type lipopeptides are suspected of being implicated in the rare food poisonings caused by Bacillusspecies outside the Bacillus cereuscluster. In order to get information on surfactin levels in actual human foods, bacilli from three commercial samples of a Japanese traditional bean product, natto, were isolated in order to clarify their potential to produce the suspect lipopeptides. The isolated bacilli were characterized as Bacillus subtilis.They were β-hemolytic and gave a positive signal in the PCR screen for genes associated with surfactin production, and their culture extracts were cytotoxic to boar sperm cells. Organic extracts of both Bacilluscultures and the natto samples were analyzed for their surfactin content using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry. All the strains proved to be surfactin producers (15 to 39 μg/ml culture medium); the natto samples contained as much as 2.2 mg g–1of surfactins. This means that consumers can ingest at least approximately 80 to 100 mg of surfactins per single 50-g natto serving apparently without suffering any ill effects, indicating a very low human toxicity.